The present invention relates to emergency medical collars for immobilizing patients' necks in a variety of positions.
Before accident victims can be more fully evaluated and treated at a medical facility, they often require immobilization of part of their body before transport by emergency medical technicians (EMT's) to prevent any further injury or damage. Various forms of splinting techniques are currently used to immobilize portions of the bodies of accident victims. Included among these techniques is the use of vacuum bag/bead technology. In these devices, a bag is used that contains both air and discrete particles composed of, for example, polymers or styrofoam. With the air still in the bag, the bag is flexible and will conform to the shape of a patient it is fitted to. As air is removed from the bag, it rigidifies and provides support and/or immobilization to the part of the body it is applied to.
Conventional vacuum bags have various drawbacks impeding their use with patients who need their necks immobilized. For example, conventional vacuum bag immobilization devices are designed to splint patients with their head in only one position, generally neutral. However, EMT's may find injured people with their heads tilted in a variety of positions, including forward (flexed), back (extended), or to the side (lateral), in addition to patients whose heads are in a neutral (straight) position. It is safer to not move the patient's neck during transport, but if a patient's head is in a position other than neutral and is to be splinted in a neutral position, it is necessary to move the patient's neck before transport. Being able to immobilize a patient in whatever position (or combination of positions, or degree of position) that patient is in would increase the safety of transportation from an accident site to a hospital.
As another example of drawbacks with conventional vacuum bag immobilization devices, present designs are generally too small to encircle the neck in any position other than neutral. If such designs were enlarged, they could choke the patient when the bag were solidified if the patient were in an extended position.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to eliminate one or all of the problems associated with known emergency immobilization devices, including improving the versatility of emergency immobilization devices for immobilizing patients with neck injuries in a variety of positions.